Foil container



J. T. BIGELOW June 23, 1970 FOIL CONTAINER Filed Jan. 4. 1968 INVENTOR.

JAMES T. BIGELOW .ATTORNEY United States Patent U.S. Cl. 229-43 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container for food products and the like comprising a receptacle provided with a rim assembly for receiving a lid and wherein selected portions of the rim assembly are specially notched to facilitate the opening and closing of the rim assembly about the lid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a container for food products and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved container made of relatively thin metal foil and comprising a bottom, upstanding sidewalls and a unique rim assembly at the outer peripheral portion of the sidewalls. The unique rim assembly includes an outwardly directed planar ledge and a plurality of fingerenga'ging lip sections certain of said lip sections being notched in an improved fashion so as to facilitate the bending of the lip sections about the marginal edges of a closure lid seated on the ledge of the rim assembly.

Various disposable and closed foil containers or receptacles have been designed in the past wherein a closure lid rests upon a ledge that forms part of the rim assembly at the open end of the receptacle. Examples of such prior art foil containers are illustrated in U.S. Pat. 2,960,255 to Blane, granted on Nov. 15, 1960, and U.S. Pat. 3,142,- 413 to Grogel, granted on July 28, 1964. One of the principal deficiencies in the aforesaid prior art foil containers exemplified by the above patents, however, is the fact that the lip elements at the top of the corners of the container and at the top of the sides and ends of the container were so constructed that they failed to provide adequate compensation for the gatherings of excess metal material which normally occurred at such corner tops, as an incident to the forming of the container. This excess metal prevented the side and end lip sections from being readily bent to an open position from a closed position about the marginal edge of a closure seated on the ledge of the rim assembly of the container and vice versa. In addition, these lip elements sometimes had raw edges which could injure the fingers of the user if the user failed to exercise care in opening or closing the marginal edges of the rim about the lid.

SUMMARY OF THE INSTANT INVENTION It is the primary purpose of the instant invention, therefore, to provide an improved disposable foil container for food products and the like comprising a receptacle having a bottom, upstanding sidewalls and a rim assembly extending outwardly of the outer periphery of the sidewalls wherein the rim assembly includes improved lip sections on the rim assembly so as to effect a more positive engagement of the rim and closure lid, when the various parts of the rim assembly are bent down upon the closure lid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away of a preferred embodiment of an improved covered and disposable foil container embodying the teachings of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view generally taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 and illustrates certain details of the improved corner lip section of the rim assembly of the instant invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the top of a corner of the improved container of the instant invention showing a closure lid in place.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken generally along line 44 of FIG. 3 and illustrates further details of a closure member with the rim assembly of the container closed thereabout;

FIG. 5 is a partial and reduced plan view of a typical metal foil blank used to form the container of FIG. 1 prior to its being formed into same; and

FIG. 6 is a partial cross sectional view of several improved containers of the instant invention disposed in a vertically stacked relation to each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With further reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of an improved coverable and disposable unitary foil container 10 embodying the instant invention. The container 10 is comprised of a receptacle having a bottom 12, upstanding sidewalls 14 and 16 and a unique rim assembly generally indicated at 18 and disposed at the top outer periphery of the sidewalls 14 and 16. The receptacle or container 10 is preferably made, as illustrated in FIG. 5, from a flat blank 22 of relatively thin and bendable yet self-sustaining aluminum foil usually on the order of .002 inch to .0059 inch in thickness. The container can be formed from the flat blank 22 by the usual forming practices known in the art such as, for example, by drawing. As a normal incident to the forming by drawing of the container from the blank 22, the sidewalls 14 and 16 as well as the rim assembly 18 have wrinkles formed therein. These wrinkles are illustrated by way of the irregular patterns of the lines L in FIGS. l-4.

When the container 10 is of rectangular configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the adjacent ends of adjoining sidewalls 14 and 16 merge together to form partially round or arcuate corners 24. Although the container is illustrated as having a rectangular configuration, it could be square, hexagonal, triangular, etc. and the size of the container can be varied to meet the requirements for packaging dilterent food products and the like.

The rim assembly 18 is generally comprised of a ledge 26 extending about substantially the entire outer periphery of the sidewalls 14 and 16. Ledge 26 is integrally connected to end, side and corner lip sections 28, 32 and 30 respectively extending outwardly of the outer periphery of the ledge 26. These lip sections 28, 32 and 30 can be manipulated upon finger-engagement, as indicated at F in FIG. 2, for the purpose of bending or folding the individual lip sections from an upstanding position down to a closed position relative to the ledge 26 or vice versa in order to hold the marginal edge of the lid 20' in an improved closed position relative to the ledge 26, see FIGS. 1-2 or FIGS. 3-4 respectively.

The overall shape of the container 10 of the instant invention lends itself to be readily stacked and nested with similarly configured containers 10, as illustrated in FIG. 6. In order to facilitate stacking and nesting, the sidewalls 14 and 16 of the containers 10 are preferably inclined somewhat upwardly and outwardly relative to the bottom 12 thereof. During stacking and nesting, the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are usually disposed in an upstanding position relative to the continuous ledge 26.

In order to facilitate the bending of the lip sections 28 and 32 whereby they can be freely and individually bent from a closed position to an open or upstanding position or vice versa, as the case may be, the corner lip sections 30 interposed between and interconnecting the adjacent ends of adjoining end and side lip sections 28 and 32 are partially separated from sections 28 and 32 by a series of slits or notches 34 as well as from each other by the intermediately disposed slit or notch 36. These notches in effect form preselected interruptions between the lip sections 28 and 32 and sections 30. The notches or slits preferably approximate the configuration of the letter V. When the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are in an upstanding position these notches advantageously extend in an inward direction toward the outer periphery of the ledge 26 and generally terminate at ledge 26. In forming the notches 34 and 36, the depth and breadth of the V-shaped slits 34 and 36 are proportioned so that when the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are bent to a closed position relative to the ledge 26, the lip sections adjacent the notches 34 and 36 are advantageously drawn together thereby the notches for all practical purposes disappear. The adjacent ends of the adjoining lip sections 28 and 30, 30 and 30, and 30 and 32 at this time are brought substantially into full convergent and abutting relation as indicated by the lines designated 34, 36' and 34' in FIGS. 3-4.

By virtue of using notches or voids 34 and 36 when bending of the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 to a closed position relative to the ledge 26 of the container 10 occurs, the finished container advantageously provides a substantially continuous uninterrupted lip about the full periphery of the container for engaging closure member 20. Depending upon the configuration of the container, one or more lip sections 30 can be interposed between and separated from the adjacent ends of adjoining lip sections 28 and 32. If only one lip element 30 is interposed between the adjacent ends of adjoining lip sections 28 and 32, then only one pair of slits or notches 34 is required and notch 36 can be eliminated.

With particular reference to FIG. 5, the upper half of a length of a flat blank of foil 22 is illustrated prior to being shaped to form the container 10 in FIG. 1 and the ledge 26 that is to be formed is outlined in dotted lines. The adjoining side and end edges 38 and 40 of the blank 22 at each of the four corners P of the blank are partially cut away, as indicated by the dotted lines, between the adjoining side and end edges 38 and 40 to form beveled edge portions 46 and 46 and a pair of adjacent undulations 42 and 42 interposed between and connected to the beveled edge portions 46 and 46. Each undulation 42 is approximately of truncated triangular shape and includes opposed edges 44 and 48. The spaced pairs of adjacent edge portions 44 and 46 at each corner P of the blank 22 S61'V6 to define the individual notches 34.

It is to be understood that the configuration of the undulations of a blank for forming the web sections of a container can be somewhat different from that specifically shown in FIG. so long as they later form appropriate notches 34 and perform the desired function. The particular configuration of an undulation of a given blank is also dependent to some extent on the ultimate shape of the container to be formed, for example, rectangular, square, etc. The amplitude of the undulations 42 above the beveled edge portions 46 and 46 at each corner P of the blank should always be of sufficient extent to adequately form the desired lip sections 30 in the finished container.

When an intermediate notch 36 is desired, it is formed by cutting away metal of the blank 22 along converging lines 48 and 48 at each corner P and the notch 36 is usually smaller than the notches 34. In any event, the size of the notches 34 and 36 and the amount of metal removed thereby is dependent upon the amount of excess metal or folds that are normally formed during drawing of a given container and which have to be compensated for to provide a substantially smooth and continuous rim assembly about the entire container and promote easy opening and closing of the lip sections 28, 30 and 32 about the lid 20. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the free terminal edges of lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are rolled or curved backwardly to form smooth beaded edges 50, 52 and 54, best shown in FIG. 3.

After a food product or the like has been placed in the container and a closure lid 20 is placed on ledge 26, the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are bent downwardly and inwardly toward the ledge 26 to lock the lid in place. This can be done manually or by an appropriate closing machine. The uniformly beaded edges 50, 52 and 54 facilitate machine closing since they permit a uniform bending of all the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 to their appropriate closed positions. All of this in turn means that the closure lid 20 will be uniformly pressed against the ledge 26 around the entire periphery of the container so that a uniform sealing of the lid can take place. Such sealing can b significant in the case of packaging certain food products. The use of notches 34 and 36 at the corners of the container tops also materially aids machine closing by minimizing interference of the various lip sections with each other during closing. The action of the closing die of the closing machines may also produce a flattening of the curled edges 52 and 54 as indicated by the partially flattened beaded edge 52 in FIG. 4.

Several containers 10 can be stacked in vertical relation to each other (see FIG. 6), such as during handling and storing of the containers 10 prior to filling with a food product or the like and the notches 34 and 36 will not adversely affect such stacking.

It is to be understood that the cover lid 20 can be of any appropriate material, paper, plastic, metal foil or various combinations thereof. The lid 20, if desired, can be cut out inwardly of its edges to provide a window for display of the product confined in the container.

Instead of forming exaggerated or large notches 34 and 36, the notches can take the form of simple slits 56, as indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 2, made between lip sections 28, 30 and 32 in the initial blank 22 of FIG. 5. Thus, when the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 are bent to a closed position relative to the ledge 26, adjacent ends of adjoining lip sections 28, 30 and 32 may overlap slightly in the fashion shown by the dotted lines 58 in FIG. 3. This slight overlap, however, will not adversely affect any mechanical opening or closing operation of the lip sections 28, 32 and 30 or finger manipulation of these same elements.

Advantageous embodiments of the instant invention have been disclosed and described, it is obvious that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A container for food products and the like comprising a unitary receptacle of polygonally-shaped configuration having an open end and made from a blank of relatively thin and bendable yet self-sustaining metal foil of a few thousandths of an inch in thickness, said re ceptacle having a bottom and upwardly extending side walls adjacent side wall portions of which merge together so as to form corners of curvilinear shape, the upper peripheral ends of said side walls and corners being provided with a rim assembly that includes an outwardly directed continuous planar ledge for receiving the marginal edge of a closure, said ledge terminating in a plurality of peripheral convergent finger-engaging lip sections selectively foldable about said edge, the outer peripheral edges of all of said lip sections being rolled backwardly and inwardly to form smooth, curled, beaded free edges and the adjoining edges of adjacent pairs of lip sections at a curvilinear-shaped side wall corner being separated from each other by a notch that extends in a direction toward and generally terminates at the outer periphery of the ledge so that each beaded lip section can be individually and selectively folded from an upstanding position to a closed position and vice versa in order to effect formation of the plurality of lip sections into a substantially continuous closure sealing beaded lip about the periphery of the side walls of said receptacle after a closure has been deposited on the ledge of the receptacle.

2. In a container for food products and the like comprised of a unitary receptacle of polygonally-shaped configuration having an open end and made from a blank of relatively thin and bendable yet self-sustaining metal foil of a few thousandths of an inch in thickness, said receptacle having a bottom and upwardly extending side walls adjacent side wall portions of which merge together to form corners of a curvilinear shape, the upper peripheral ends of said side walls and corners terminating in a rim assembly that includes an outwardly directed continuous planar ledge for receiving the marginal edge of a closure, said ledge terminating in a plurality of peripheral canvergent finger-engaging lip sections, the improvement wherein the adjoining edges of a pair of adjacent lip sections are arranged so as to be separated by a notch means which extends in a direction toward and generally terminates at the periphery of the ledge and wherein the outer peripheral edges of all said lip sections including the corner lip sections are rolled backwardly and inwardly References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,378,878 6/1945 Wilson 22943 X 2,884,175 4/1959 Wilson 229--21 X 2,960,255 11/1960 Blane.

3,021,990 2/ 1962 Duskey.

3,142,413 7/1964 Grogel.

3,233,819 2/ 1966 Flaherty 22943 3,301,465 1/ 1967 Flaherty 2293.5 X

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner 

